Copycat "Grilled" Chicken Tenderloins

I made this for dinner last night!  Too good not to re-post!!

I saw this recipe on Mommy's Kitchen and I had to try it for my kids.  It looks so easy and delicious.  It's a copycat version of a recipe served in Cracker Barrel restaurants called Grilled Chicken Tenders.  This name is interesting to me since this chicken isn't grilled at all.  Of course "my style" I always want to use ingredients I have on hand so I tweaked the recipe a little bit.  I used balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of Italian dressing and agave instead of honey but the lime I kept the same ;)  You can find the original recipe on Mommy's Kitchen here.  Please check out her blog, there are a lot of fantastic recipes to try!

Ingredients:

4 - 5 chicken breasts, cut into pieces or 12 chicken tenderloins

1 cup Italian Dressing (I used Balsamic Viniagrette)

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

4 teaspoons honey (I used Agave) 

Preparation:

Cut each chicken breast into strips or use tenderloins pieces. If using tenderloins cut and remove the white tendon off each end. In a bowl that has a cover or large Ziploc bag add the dressing, lime juice and honey; mix to combine. Add the chicken and mix to coat all the pieces. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Braise the tenders in a non-stick pan until golden brown in color, but not dry. Start the stove temperature at medium high to get things going. After it comes to a boil reduce the heat to low-medium and continue cooking. You just want them to simmer until all the liquid has cooked down. You still want a bit of glaze left in the pan. When chicken is done remove and serve.

**You pour the chicken with all the marinade into the pan to braise.  It will look like you have A LOT of liquid but do not worry, it will cook all the way down.  Below are 4 pictures showing the cooking process over a 40 minute period.

When I first put the chicken and marinade in the pan

About 10 minutes into the braising process

About 20 minutes into the braising process

About 40 minutes total cooking time

Homemade Tortilla Chips

It's is so super easy to make your own tortilla chips and they are so much healthier than store bought because they are baked in the oven, not fried.  If you're like me you buy flour tortillas at the store for a recipe and then always have more than half the pack leftover that just sit in the refrigerator until you throw them out.  I really hate wasting food so lately I've been taking my leftover flour and corn tortillas and making chips out of them.  They are so delicious and I think taste much better than the store bought kind.

Ingredients:

Flour or Corn Tortillas

Non-stick cooking spray

Coarse salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray or use a silpat liner so some other non-stick liner.  Cut your tortillas into long 2 inch wide strips.  Then take each long strip and cut into triangles.  You can make sqauares to if you prefer, they taste the same :)  Lay cut tortillas in a single layer on the lined cookie sheet and then spray the tops of the cut tortillas with non-stick cooking spray. 

Sprinkle generously with coarse salt and bakc in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until the tortillas are light to golden brown.  Let cool on sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a large bowl to cool completely.  Continue in small batches until you use up all your tortillas.  Serve with any dip you like!

Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

This is a super rich, light and creamy no bake dessert.  It only has a few ingredients and takes just minutes to put together.  If you love peanut butter you will LOVE this dessert, the only problem is waiting for it to chill in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.  I suggest leaving  some in the bowl to lick while you wait!

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
8 oz container Cool Whip
chocolate syrup, for drizzling

Preparation:

In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, peanut butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.  Fold n cool whip until completely combined.  Pour filling into a graham cracker crust and refrigerate for at leasts 2 hours and up to overnight.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve cold.

Rainbow Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it looked so easy and so much fun to make.  I did it with my kids one day and they had a blast.  It's like a craft project and cooking project rolled into one.  You can make this recipe even easier by using a store bought sugar cookie dough which is what I did.  Below are step by step picture directions.  Have fun!

Ingredients:

Sugar Cookie dough

Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple Food coloring

Non-pareil sprinkles

Preparation:

Take your prepared cookie dough and divide into 5 equal parts.  Color each part with a different color food dye.  You can use any colors that you like (I did the typical "rainbow" colors).  Knead the color in until the dough is colored throughout with no white streaks. 

Next roll each section of colored dough into long snakes.

Then cut the snakes up into small 1 inch pieces

Next take one piece of each colored dough and gently roll into a ball

Now take each of the colored dough balls and roll into a long snake again

Next wrap each of the long snakes into a spiral shape

Only two more steps! Roll the edges of each sprial in non-pareil sprinkles and lay flat on a baking sheets lined with a silpat or parchment paper.

Bake at 350 F. until baked through but not brown about 10 minutes (watch them carefully)

Broccoli Salad

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This is an all time favorite salad for summer time.  My family has been making this for BBQ's for years and we give out the recipe constantly because it's always a big hit.  Because you use raw broccoli this salad really lasts a long time without getting soggy which makes it a great salad to bring to a friend's house, block party or anywhere that it might have to sit out for an extended period of time.   



Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, stems discarded, florets cut small
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup sugar
3 T red wine vinegar
1/2 small red onion, finely minced
1/2 cup raisins
1 package ramen noodles, broken into small pieces,uncooked, discard the seasoning packet
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, not salted or roasted
1 cup raw cashews, not salted or roasted

Preparation:

Place broccoli in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk mayo, sugar, vinegar, and onion
Pour dressing over broccoli.
Add raisins, crumbled ramen noddles, sunflower seeds, and cashews.
Toss to combine

Tips
*There is enough dressing to double the amount of broccoli  but keep the rest of ingredient amounts the same
* Toast the ramen noodles in a dry hot pan on the stove top
* If not serving immediately, add the cashews and ramen noodles right before serving but you can dress the broccoli with the raisins and sunflower seeds a few hours in advance.  

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

4 cups of frozen blueberries thawed (or fresh)
1/2 cup of sugar
7 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons of juice from thawed blueberries, or grape juice or water
2 pie crusts (I used a frozen deep dish pie crust for the bottom and a ready made rollout crust for the top)

Preparation:

Mix together sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in a small bowl set aside.  Toss blueberries with lemon juice and reserved blueberry juice.  Pour sugar mixture over blueberries and toss to coat.  Pour blueberry mixture into prepared cold pie crust.  Cover with top crust and seal ends around entire crust.  Make slits in the top of crust to vent.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until pie crust is golden brown and blueberry juice is bubbling.  Cool completely before serving.